An affordable signature model based on the one that Iron Maiden's guitarist uses on stage.

The Jackson Adrian Smith SDX is an affordable way to gain access to the sound and playability of the more expensive model that the Iron maiden guitarist actually uses on stage. This one features a basswood body, bolt-on maple neck, compound radius rosewood fingerboard, Jackson pickups in an HSS configuration, white pickguard, Floyd Rose Special tremolo system, and black hardware. Case sold separately.

I love this guitar. When I first got it about a year ago, I loved it from the moment I pulled it out of the box. The Licensed Floyd system was set up...Read complete review

I love this guitar. When I first got it about a year ago, I loved it from the moment I pulled it out of the box. The Licensed Floyd system was set up and intonated properly. I pulled the stock pickups out within a few months and put in DiMarzio's. Now it screams! I plan on switching out the licensed Floyd for an original Floyd since the stability on the original, as well as the tonality, is much better. But for the price of this guitar, I have no complaints. It has a very bright clear sound. The tone is more bright and clear rather than the warm more gooey sound you'd get from a set-neck mahogany bodied guitar. The sustain is nice but Im sure will increase with an Original Floyd with a good brass tone block. I got the maple fretboard version. The neck is very comfortable and the frets are quite nice. The fretwork was pretty good. Ive had it completely apart a couple times and the tolerances of the work are very tight. As I mentioned earlier, just put in high end pickups of your choice and this guitar is a real workhorse strat.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

Not pretty

I received the guitar and looking at the box it had looked like it was opened before. I pulled the guitar out and all of the screws had stripped heads and some of the...Read complete review

I received the guitar and looking at the box it had looked like it was opened before. I pulled the guitar out and all of the screws had stripped heads and some of the pickguard screws were screwed in sideways. It looked like an untrained person built their first guitar. I returned it within 1 hour of opening the box. The quality overall seemed bad. I was really hoping it would be nice like some of the other reviews but just had this feeling when I placed the order it would turn out this way. Oh well.

I received the guitar and looking at the box it had looked like it was opened before. I pulled the guitar out and all of the screws had stripped heads and some of the pickguard screws were screwed in sideways. It looked like an untrained person built their first guitar. I returned it within 1 hour of opening the box. The quality overall seemed bad. I was really hoping it would be nice like some of the other reviews but just had this feeling when I placed the order it would turn out this way. Oh well.

I love this guitar. When I first got it about a year ago, I loved it from the moment I pulled it out of the box. The Licensed Floyd system was set up and intonated properly. I pulled the stock pickups out within a few months and put in DiMarzio's. Now it screams! I plan on switching out the licensed Floyd for an original Floyd since the stability on the original, as well as the tonality, is much better. But for the price of this guitar, I have no complaints. It has a very bright clear sound. The tone is more bright and clear rather than the warm more gooey sound you'd get from a set-neck mahogany bodied guitar. The sustain is nice but Im sure will increase with an Original Floyd with a good brass tone block. I got the maple fretboard version. The neck is very comfortable and the frets are quite nice. The fretwork was pretty good. Ive had it completely apart a couple times and the tolerances of the work are very tight. As I mentioned earlier, just put in high end pickups of your choice and this guitar is a real workhorse strat.

1. Needs New Nut. The stock nut is 10" radius. Fretboard radius is compound 12" to 16". Replaced stock nut with a 14" radius nut. Filed down nut slot to get the height right. Fixed. Most all Jacksons have this issue. Strange. Also shimmed the high and low e-string at the bridge for a flatter radius. Still a little buzz on the low E string but acceptable.

2. Neck pickup can't be adjusted high enough so it is too quiet compared to bridge pickup. The bridge sits too high. The fix: shim the neck. Works perfectly. Neck pickup sounds great.

I ordered this guitar on looks alone; as a life long Jackson player I expected Jackson quality to be there. For whatever reason, I wanted a Jackson with a Strat headstock, watching Adrian playing his Jacksons onstage only fueled that desire.So the looks of the guitar are excellent. No issues with the paint job or with the finish on the hardware.The neck is excellent and the frets are finished perfectly. The grain in the rosewood fret board is tight and the board is smooth.Like other reviewers, I do have issues with the pickups. Experience has shown me that guitars in this price range, running "stock" pickups, usually leave a lot to be desired and I assumed that a swap would be in order even as I added this guitar to my cart. In the case of my SDX, I do not like the stock single coils. While I don't expect their output to match the bridge humbucker, they aren't even close. Both single coils are thin sounding and through my rig lack bass and midrange. Adjusting their height hasn't helped any. I do like the bridge humbucker and it will stay in the guitar.The Floyd Rose Special feels solid and staying in tune hasn't been an issue. The volume, tone, and the 5-way switch feel solid with no noise.So, while I don't like the single coils, they are still usable until I can swap them out. The neck plays great, the hardware on the guitar is solid...I feel that the SDX is gig-worthy and does a good job of representing the Jackson brand.

I hate to dig on a Jackson like I hated to dig on my Fender Steve Harris P bass. But this won't stay in tune, pick guard is junk and the "you get what you pay for" lesson comes home again. I love Adrian and Jackson but this doesn't do either one justice. Get it for your collection but forget it for playing live. It will look nice on your wall of trophy guitars though. Don't think though Jackson can't otherwise come through for little money. My Jackson concert bass (350.00) stomps the heck out of the Fender Steve Harris model (1300.00)for sound and quality. The Harris is the most beautiful bass ever though and again looks fantastic on the wall. The SDX? Trophy only believe me. Thank you

This is a very nice instrument for the pricepoint. I love the feel of the instrument and to me THAT is key.. The body feels right. The neck feels good. The fretboard and fretwork out of the box for me was VERY nice. The abalone inlays are just icing!

The Floyd Rose is middle of the road. I've seen far better and far worse. It's stable but the fine tuners are what you would expect at this pricepoint. A bit coarse...Not my immediate item to upgrade. The single coil pickups however, ARE! They have to go! Actually, it's my intent to have a new HXS pickguard made and to load my own pickups of choice. The Bridge humbucker may stay, it's decent. But the stock Single Coils are subpar.. Hence, my 4 rather than 5 rating..

I have this one as well as the real USA version, therefore the focus of my review is to compare the imported version vs. the USA version. I must say that the SDX comes pretty close in tone and feel to the USA version...the craftsmanship is pretty good. I think that the US model is a little pricey and this is definitely a better overall deal. Believe it or not, I actually like the humbucker in this one better than the Dimarzio super distortion in the USA version...I feel that its brighter, which I prefer. My only gripe on this guitar is the noiseless single coils. I feel that the output on these are a little weak. They are great clean, but for solos I usually have to use my overdrive pedal to give it more bite. One thing about the noiseless single coils on these is they sound more like a single coil that the SCN's in the USA model, which sound more like a humbucker. I honestly feel that the only upgrade needed on this guitar is a neck pickup swap...other than that its an amazing guitar and a fantastic deal.

I was a bit weary when I saw these were crafted in India, but that fear was soon laid to rest. This is honestly one of the nicest necks I've played on; the fret edges are well dressed, and the neck and fingerboard are ridiculously smooth. I bought my SDX from here, and I've played 3 others at various music stores, all with the same results; fantastic playability.

The tremolo stays in tune perfectly, though I had to raise the action a tiny bit to remove the fret buzz offered by unbalanced tremolo levels. A quick and simple adjustment on the spring tension fixed any buzz problems I had out of the box, however minor or major.

The pickups sound great! I had been considering a swap before the guitar arrived, but I'm quite pleased with the tone they give. No adjustments were necessary here.

The only qualm I have is that it seems the high e string sits too close to the edge of the fingerboard, and I have to exercise caution when playing there as to not pull the string off the side of the fingerboard. This has only been an issue on mine, however. The other 3 I've played have not had this problem.

The finish is top notch, the neck is among the best I've ever played (on parwith American Standards and Deluxes ), and it's a versatile beast.

Overall, this is honestly one of the best guitars you can buy for less than half a grand. I've actually considered buying another one or two to have my entire arsenal be this dependable. Check one out, you won't be disappointed!